Daniel

Halfway into my fourth catwalk lesson and I was nearly fed up. I would have never thought that it would be this damn difficult. You’d think all I had to learn was how to put one leg in front of the other, turn around, and repeat. But, no. I had to learn how to have the perfect posture, how far apart my legs need to be from each other, how to ooze with confidence, and most importantly how to adjust my eyes. Jocelyn, my coach and a beautiful dark-skinned woman, is considered the best of the best and Terri constantly reminds me how lucky Wesley Models is to have her. The first day was spent getting my posture on point. From the many days of being a beggar, my back was on the verge of giving up on me. I was so used to having a slumped spinal cord and a curved neck. It was torture having to get everything aligned.

Jocelyn sounded like my mother yelling at me all over again with the whole posture thing. For long periods of time, I’d have to stand in the middle of her studio with my legs shoulder-width apart, continuously rolling my shoulders up and around. She said we were practicing on opening my chest. I would have to imagine a string through the top of my skull, pulling my spine into a straight line. By the end of the day, the top half of my body was sore. She liked my perseverance though. She liked the fact that, not matter how much she got on me, I followed all of her directions without giving her any lip. Jocelyn could be quite the bitch, but I liked her. Her huge dark curly mane added to her sort of hippie-like personality. Tattoos stretched all the way down her right arm to her left leg and she had a gold hoop coming out her of her right nostril. She liked to wear a lot of mismatched outfits that somehow looked perfectly combined. Being in the fashion industry was definitely her calling.

Once I fully accomplished the art of having the “correct” posture, we finally moved on to the walking portion of the lessons. Her venue of choice was an old building in West Hollywood that used to be the center of most fashion shows a long while ago. It was in pretty good condition due to a large amount of activity from the coaches around the area. Jocelyn motioned for me to take a step onto the runway as soon as we got in. She was in the process of turning all of the lights on. I looked at the long strip and gulped. Did she seriously want me to hop up there and walk as if I know what the hell I’m doing?

“Why are you looking at it like that?” she asked with her raspy voice. “I assure you, Daniel. It is not toxic or poisonous.”

‘I-I don’t know anything.” I responded, still glaring at runway. 

“Yes. I know that. But give me what you got so I know what we need to work on.”

We stared at each other for a few seconds. “Go on” she encouraged. “It’s just me and you here. Nothing to be afraid of, sweetheart.”

I nodded and pulled myself up onto it. Jocelyn walked to sit down in one of the chairs and crossed one of her thin legs over the other. “I’m ready when you are.”

With heaps of hesitation, I began walking down the catwalk as if I were one of the male models I’ve seen on the TV. Before coming here, she asked me to take a look at a few videos of some of the previous models she coached. The women definitely had it worse with their heels and ridiculous outfits, but my main concern is mashing all of this stuff together and pulling the experience part off. When I reached the end of the runway, I slowly turned around and quickly walked back to the beginning. Jocelyn yelled the word “stop”.

“Not to shabby, pretty boy. But you know what’s honestly pissing me off about you?”

I crinkled my eyebrows together and looked down at the floor. “What?”

“Your lack of confidence. Dude, how in the hell are you trying to be a model when you can barely make eye contact?”

“I-“

“Look at me when you talk to me!” she interrupted.

I lifted my head up and looked into her brown eyes. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. You’re extremely handsome and you have the potential to radiate sex appeal. If you would just be confident, women will throw themselves at you!”

“Okay…”

“Start back over. This time, I want you to take it slow. Take longer strides. You’re a man, meaning you cannot piddle about with little baby steps. I want you to take the longest strides you can, okay? Lung into the distance!”

For the next thirty minutes or so, I walked back in forth along the runway, adding in her constructive criticism along the way. Every now and then she would shout for me to fix my posture or talk lengthier steps. Towards the end of the session, she helped to teach me how to look more natural by swinging my arms.

“You’re doing really great” she complimented. I was sitting on the edge of the runway, gulping down a bottle of Aquafina.

“You think?”

“Yeah. Look, I know I’m tough on you but you’re doing really well. You catch on quickly and you’re always ready to learn more. I love your work ethic. “

“Thanks” I all but whispered.

Jocelyn stood up from her seat and positioned herself in between my legs. I took a huge gulp and leaned back a little. She grabbed ahold of my thighs and smiled a devious grin. “Why are you so shy and quiet?”

“I-I have no…I don’t know.”

Up close, she looked like an exotic Barbie doll to me. Her eyelids were coated with a gold colored eyeshadow and black eyeliner. Jocelyn’s presumably fake eyelashes hung long and thick. The smell of her peach scent brought me back to reality and to the question burning in my mind. Why the hell is she so close to me…?

“You’re acting as if you’ve never been with a woman before, Danny” she flirtatiously purred.

I let out a short chuckle and immediately began to reminisce on my last relationship. Her name was Laura and we were high school sweethearts. It was one of those typical “We Were Each Other’s First” kind of relationships. Nothing to scrapbook about. We broke up and went our separate ways not too long after we got accepted into two different universities. As far as I know, unless I’ve been drugged, she’s the only one I’ve been with. During my little time in college, I was too caught up in my own world to be involved in any relationships.

“I’ve been with women before, Jocelyn” I proudly lied.

Her eyes traveled to my crotch and then up to my face while she bit her bottom lip. “Why are you acting so nervous then?”

“Because…well, I uh..”

Her smile widened as she placed her fingers on my cheek and traced her index finger along my jawline. “Fuck. You’re so adorable.”

I winced and braced myself for the kiss we were about to share. It wasn’t that I had no attraction towards her, but it was hard to see her coming on to me like this. Before this day, she never initiated any sort of attraction towards me. Plus, I had another woman stuck on my mind..

Right as our lips touched, that someone cleared their throat. My eyes shot up and I gasped at the sight of Terri standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. She didn’t look too pleased.

Jocelyn slowly turned around with a smirk on her face. “Hey Ter”

“Don’t ‘hey Ter’ me…” Terri rolled her eyes. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I think it’s pretty obvious” Jocelyn countered.

“I asked you to coach him. Not to make out with him!”

“Can you blame me? The man is gorgeous.”

“And so are all of the other models you’ve coached! Get your hands off of him and do your damn job!”

I looked back and forth between the two women and blinked. What was I supposed to do in a situation like this? It was already bad enough that I barely spoke. It made me seem weak and vulnerable. So weak and vulnerable that the two of them felt as if they could treat me like a teenage boy or something.

“Daniel, come on. We’re leaving” Terri commanded.

Jocelyn threw her arms out and blocked me behind her. “He’s not going anywhere. We’re taking a break. Aside from the scene you just witnessed, he’s doing really well. We only have two more sessions and he’ll be just what you need him to be.”

Terri squinted her eyes and scowled. “Keep your hands off of him, Jocelyn, or this will be the last day as your career as a runway coach. Got that?”

“Yes” she swallowed. “Daniel, please show Terri what you have so far.”

Once again, without a word, I nodded and scurried to the top of the strip. I looked out into the empty chairs and saw the two women sitting far apart from each other. Jocelyn pressed down on her boom box and the music we’ve been practicing to blared through the speakers.

I began to walk with everything I’ve learned so far implanted in my mind. With each step I took, I made sure to focus my eyes on the back of the room and walk like I’ve been taught. At the end of the runway, I caught a glimpse of Terri. Her beautiful face glared up at me and the world seemed to be moving in slow motion for a second. I gave her a half-smile and slowly whirled around to make my way back to the beginning.

Jocelyn jumped out of her chair, clasped her hands together, and brought them up to her face. Her eyes beamed with joy and her smile was at it’s widest. “Yes!!” she squealed.

I lifted my eyebrows and looked at Terri in confusion. Her face carried the same expression.

“What?” I asked.

Jocelyn moved her hands away from her face. “That smirk you did. I loved it. It brought so much out of you. It was sexy. I saw mystery, danger, and adventure. Do it again!”

“I…don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t smirk.”

“I know what I saw, Daniel. Jesus Christ, it could be your signature move. Just do it and I’ll let you go home” she pressured.

Assuming that she meant the little half-smile I gave to Terri, I repeated it.

“Yes! That!” Jocelyn shouted as she pointed at me. “Do that when you pose and you’ll be the man of the show each time. I guarantee you.”

*****************

The ride back to my new apartment was in silence for the most part until Terri finally initiated conversation. She continued to stare straight ahead as she spoke.

“Let me know if she continues to come onto you.”

“I don’t mind it” I shrugged. “She’s pretty cool.”

“I don’t care if you think she’s cool. It’s not a part of her job description to fondle her clients.”

“I know that…but, I honestly don’t think it’s any of your business what she does.”

Luckily, we approached a stoplight as she hit the brakes and shot me a patronizing look. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me.”

“And what gives you the right to talk to me like that?” Terri looked offended as if no one’s ever spoken to her in such a manner.

I challenged her with sarcasm. “I believe it’s in the first amendment.”

“You…” she paused, clearly at a loss for words. “You hardly ever speak and at the point in which you finally decided to say something, you hit me with sarcasm.”

I laughed and bowed my head. “Correct.”

“It’s nice to know that there’s more to you than I thought.” She pressed her foot on the gas when the light turned green and smiled.

“Same here” I murmured.

Terri shot me another look and quickly focused back on the road. “What was that?”

“I just think there’s more to you than the fake front you put on to make people scared of you.”

I turned my head to see what her reaction would be like. She didn’t really have one. All she really did was grin.

“Terri” I continued. “You’re a special individual, but you live a sad life.”

“Say another offensive phrase and I will kick you out of my car” she joked. It was nice to see her joking because if she said that during out first acquaintance, I would have thought differently.  “My life is none of your business.”

“You’re right. It’s not…but I don’t like seeing you so unhappy all of the time.”

“I’m not unhappy, kid. I love my job and I have everything I’ll ever need.”

“Well, first of all, I’m not a kid. I’m a grown man. Secondly, I can see that you obviously live comfortably, but even the wealthiest people are lonely.”

“Who said I was lonely?”

“No one. I-“

“How about we not discuss my life, alright? You’ve already crossed the line.” She said with a serious expression.

Seconds later, we pulled up at my apartment complex and I instantly grabbed the handle to open the door. “You have to let people in, ya know.”

I closed the door behind me after thanking her for the ride. My eyes followed her silver Lexus crossover as it exited the parking lot.

The studio apartment Laila picked out for me was everything I needed and more. She made sure to furnish it and stock the refrigerator. As soon as I walked in, I grabbed the daily newspaper and plopped down on the comfy king sized bed. I wanted to surprise her by getting a second job so that I could eventually start paying my own rent. Of course, being the precious doll she was, she wanted to pay for everything and bless me with all sorts of things, but I couldn’t allow it. As a man, I knew that it was my duty to take care of myself.

Terri

Over the next three months, I tried to keep my distance away from Daniel so that I could remain professional. I jumped down Jocelyn’s throat for coming on to him when, like Daniel said, it was none of my damn business. To be completely honest, I did that out of jealousy. Yes, jealousy. Lord only knows when the last time I possessed that emotion was. He brought so many unusual things out of me. Like laugher, for instance.

One rainy day, I was dropping him off from his first official photoshoot and he made me laugh so hard that I couldn’t tell if it was actually me who was laughing like that. Daniel was running inside his apartment with a few grocery bags. I was right behind him with a folder full of his photos, making sure that they didn’t get wet. Right as we got under the shelter, he took the biggest fall ever. My eyes widened as his feet lost all control and flew up in the air with his body tumbling down shortly after. The bags he carried came up in the air as well. Out of pure reaction, I busted out laughing while bending down to help him up. He looked up at me and frowned. That made me laugh even more. I completely lost it!

Daniel grabbed me by my waist and pulled me down to him, forcing me to lose my balance and topple over. He started to chuckle when he noticed how angry I instantly got. People were walking by staring at the two of us as if we had lost our damn minds.

We went up to his apartment drenched. As my clothes were being washed, I dressed in one of his baggy t-shirts and sweatpants and sat stiffly on the couch in his living room. The TV was playing a rerun of Family Guy. I needed to focus my attention on that rather than on the way Daniel looked in his black tank top and boxer shorts. He looked so damn good. The diet and exercise plan I assigned to him was really paying off. His biceps were noticeably more defined and I could see his abs pressed against the thin piece of material.

A hard knock on the door knocked me clear out of my thoughts. Daniel rushed over to open it and the sight of the pizza man made me widen my eyes. How ironic…

I jumped out off of the couch and walked over to him right as the door closed. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Eating…want some?” Daniel brushed me off and walked into the kitchen.

He opened the brown cardboard box and showcased the greasy meat infested pizza. “You’re not eating that.”

“Says who?” he challenged.

I slammed the box down and blocked him from getting back inside of it. “Me! Daniel, you have a magazine photoshoot a week from today and you’re sitting here indulging yourself with this piece of junk!”

“Terri, please move or I will move you myself. I’m starving.”

“You’re not eating that” I repeated, standing my ground.

As promised, Daniel grabbed me by the waist and pulled me into his body. My eyes rolled to the back of my head at the scent of his fresh-out-of-the-shower scent. He reached behind me and pulled a slice of pizza out of the box.

As soon as he released me to search for a plate, I grabbed him by the back of his shirt and jumped on his back. Now, I don’t know why the hell I did that but I did. He began laughing as I reached for his pizza like a little child.

“Give me that!” I shouted like a mad woman.

Daniel stuffed it in his mouth and began to moan in an overly exaggerated manner.  “So delicious…”

I gave up and hopped off of him. He turned around and gave me that sexy smirk. Fuck, I hated when he did that shit. “You should treat yourself to a slice or two. This is the best pizza I’ve had since I’ve been here.”

“It’s garbage. What you’re eating is garbage…” I breathed out.

He pointed over to the trashcan and continued to chew. “No, that’s garbage. What I’m eating is heaven in the form of food.”

“I can’t believe you’re eating that shit right in front of me! What happened to the meal plan I had you following??”

“I still follow it. Calm down, woman. Today is my break day.”

“I don’t remember giving you this so-called break day…”

“Because you didn’t. Look-“ he paused and leaned against the counter. I awkwardly stood in the middle of the kitchen as he talked. “Your diet is really strict and the only way I can stay true to it is by giving myself a weekly rest day.”

I looked at him with pursed lips. He made a valid point. The diet I had him following consisted of mostly protein and hardly any carbs. Of course, he had to drink water and stay away from anything deep-fried, sugary, or carbonated. I didn’t take it into consideration that he was a college-aged young man who wouldn’t gain a single pound from eating pizza all day, everyday.

The last time I had pizza was years ago. Since I was getting older, I made sure to keep a healthy, clean diet so I wouldn’t gain the pounds that came with age and never be able to shed them.

“Eat some” he insisted, holding out a slice to me. I could practically see the grease dripping off of the damn thing. He didn’t need to know that I was starving just like him due to the fact that I’ve been too busy to eat. “I know you’re hungry, Terri and it’s not like you’re going to gain any weight from indulging every once in a while.”

Fuck it…

A proud grin was plastered on his face as he watched me take a huge slice out of the box and take a bite out of it. “That’s my girl…” he whispered.

The rest of the night was spent joking around and watching a few TV shows. The weather had gotten worse and I refused to drive in it. He let me sleep on his bed while he slept on the couch. Although I didn’t tell him much about my personal life, I felt like he was beginning to know the other side of me. The side that I kept hidden from everybody I know and that scared the living shit out of me. Throughout that stormy night, the thought of him previously being homeless never occurred to me. All I could think about was how he made me smile and how much of a great personality he has. I liked that he didn’t seem afraid of me anymore and that he accepted me for me. He made an effort to break though my brick wall instead of telling me to soften up or change altogether.

Damn.

Daniel

“Hey you”

I smiled and turned around at the sound of Terri’s smooth voice. She sent me a text earlier asking to meet her at her office.

“Hey” I responded. She walked past me and unlocked her office with a frown on her face. “What’s wrong, Terri?”

“We need to have a talk.”

“About?”

“Close the door, please.”

Her business-like tone had me worried. What did she have up her sleeve? It was very unusual hearing her speak to me like this. Over the past few months, we’ve developed a unique friendship and right now it feels like we’re back at step one.

“You’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”

“I don’t like to fuck around, so I’ll tell you straight up. I’m ending our contract together and you’re going to be signing with Alonzo Lopez.”